Blind and Low Vision-Friendly
To return to the essence of your individualism is to surrender into interconnectedness, into Ubuntu; a universal energy which is here to serve us all. To remind us all that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We gather around Black creatives to learn and lean into the power and pain that these legacies hold. We gather to prophesize a future abundant with music, movement, melanin and JOY! We welcome you to experience the magic of Ubuntu. I am Because You Are.
In partnership with Surrey Black Arts Centre
Featuring
Léral, Black Pace and Kinfolk Nation
MC
fanny kearse
6:00 PM | Opening Welcome with Senaqwila Wyss
6:10 PM | Léral – Love Candy or Human (Cold World)
Léral is an American born, South African raised singer and creative storyteller. She is interested in writing songs for and about healing from generational trauma. Her genre could be described as nostalgic soul pop (she calls it “soup”). Some of her musical inspirations include Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and Tierra Whack. When she is not performing in and around Vancouver, she teaches vocal lessons to students from ages 6 to 60 (all ages). You can follow her vocal coaching business on Instagram at @leralstudio. Through teaching and performing, Léral shares her genuine passion and fascination with the voice as a musical instrument.
6:40 PM | Siobhan Barker – Thunderthighs Wants to Wake the World; a harvesting Ancestral tea-chings tale
A sharp-witted story, borrowing from Ancestral teachings, confronting body-bias (aka: sizeism, anti-fat bias, and Ice cream as an acceptable food group). Our hero Thunderthighs takes you on a laugh-filled journey of confronting social norms, gender & body biases that WEIGH (pun!) us all down and encourage the disconnect. If we can't connect to ourselves with neutrality and grace; how can we explore the intersectionality of identities that connect us to place and land? If we can't connect to the land; how can we embrace collective liberation? Come grab two scoops of socially conscious sass with a hot chocolatey topper that will put the cherry on top of any Day!
7:05 PM | Morning Star Trickey
Songs about building community and the inevitability and necessity of change, growth, and renewal. (Re)creation!
7:30 PM | Tre-Ana Cope Quong
7:50 PM | Eye.Sha
Solo vocalist performance of 3 original songs. The songs are avante-garde-R&B, danceable, and fun, combining elements of traditional Gambian music with pop, soul, and hip-hop. The performance is a fusion of contemporary R&B, West African vocal stylings, ethereal harmonies, futuristic vibes, and whimsical beats. It is a journey through soulful melodies and ancestral rhythms, with songs about heartbreak, relationships, and the liberation of Black women and girls.
8:15 PM | Black Pace
Mwayi Mphande better known by their stage name Black Pace/Lady Pace, is a passionate Malawian-African women's rights campaigner, life skills coach, business student and celebrity Hip-hop artist. She was born and raised in Malawi, South Eastern Africa and currently resides on Bowen Island. Pace has already released a full album along with numerous singles and is soon to release another full album. Her music is an eclectic mix of hip hop, afro pop and the distinct sound of her native village.
8:40 PM | Kinfolk Nation
Lady Dia & Trophy of Kinfolk Nation are a musical duo who are currently exploring “The Birth of the New Jazz: the Sound of Ubuntu” (Ubuntu- I am because you are). We are storytellers coming from the fars and beyond’s of the Kinfolk Nation; a creative tribe who carry stories from the many Africas and Beyond. “Last night I dreamt about taking over the world with the Kinfolk Nation. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the best dream I’ve had in a while.” We are Kinfolk Nation, free like the Negmawon and guided by the philosophy of Ubuntu. We are building a Nation people, we are building a Nation! Everyone is welcome but only if you have love.
exposition of life
This piece is a rendering of the loving tending we must do for the earth that is beneath us and within us. By blending natural earth elements, such as Tansi with found items, such as sea glass and playing with the use of shadow and story, this piece seeks to inspire how love fertilizes, regenerates and holds the interstitial space between community, spirit and body. This exposition of life implores us to sit in the soil of our souls as we bloom, break, dream and discover.
Ibrahim Yusuf
Ibrahim Yusuf was born on the 15th of March, 1987 in Enugu State Nigeria. He grew up in Enugu State and began painting at the age of 12. He studied Arts at Auchi Polytechnic 2002-2003 where he obtained his National Diploma in Painting/General Arts. His works over the past years have received awards and he has participated in several group exhibition. He is very skilled and well known for his wood burning art (pyrography) the art of decorating wood with fire.
Victoria Marie – Reclaiming Ancestral Cosmologies
These paintings represent a few of the sacred feminine images from the cosmologies of my Ancestors that show up in my DNA results. Three of the pieces represent my West African heritage and one my Celtic heritage.
